Washing-machine



(No Model.) A. R..HERBBIN. WASHING MACHINE.

Pgtented July 22, 1884.

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PATENT .rrrce.

ADAM R. HERBEIN, OF FLEETYVOOD, PENNSYLVANIA.

WASHING- MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,401, dated July 22,1884.

Application filed August 16, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADAMR. HERBEIN, of Fleetwood, in the county of Berksand State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved\Vashing-Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, efficient, anddurable machine for washing clothes, and one which may be operatedeasily, and which will have a quick action in cleansing the clotheswithout injury to the clothes.

It relates particularly to that form of washing-machine in which a tubor case is provided with a vertical shaft journaled in a hinged cover,and carrying within the case radial arms with downwardlyprojectingstirrers, and which shaft has a pinion at the top gearing into acog-wheel, with a handle, by oscillating'whieh handle the stirrers areoscillated to wash the clothes.

My invention consists in the peculiar means for connecting the stirrersor rubbers to the vertical shaft, so that their connection may be looseand not rigid, and hence less liable to tear the clothes, and in otherdetails of construction, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicate,

corresponding parts-in allthe figures. Figure 1 is a cross-sectionalelevation of my improved clothes washing machine and a wringer securedthereto at one side. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a part of thebody or tub of the machine, with the cover or lid thrown back on itshinges; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the clothes-rubbing bars, and withthe shaft in section on line :10 m, Fig. 1.

The letter (2 represents a tub or vessel for receiving the clothes to bewashed, said tub being preferably of square or rectangular form, andhaving any suitable metallic inner lining, b, or not, as preferred. Legsc c support the tub a at a convenient height, and the legs 0 at one sideof the machine rise above the body a, and are preferably beveled 011 thetop from the inside faces upward, as shown, these legs 0 serving as astop to the cover or lid d, to prevent swinging it over backward too faron its hinges e. I provide cleats f around the tub a, on which the cover(Z may rest when closed, and to which the closed cover may be locked byany suitable buttons, 9, fixed to the sides of the tub a, so as to beturned over the edges of the lid. The cover may also have an innerlining, b, if desired. The body a has firmly fixed to its top edge, andalong the side opposite the hinges, c, a stout strip or bar, h, on whichany ordinary style of clothes-wringer may be securely clamped, as at t,for wringing out the clothes directly from the tub a.

For agitating the clothes and the water in the tub a, to quickly softenand thoroughly remove the dirt from the clothes, I employ three or morerubbing bars or blocks, 3', which are bored lengthwise to fit loosely onstrong pins or bars 70, which latter are fixed rigidlyin thedriving-shaft Z, or a collar thereon, and project therefrom radially andin horizontal plane. These blocks j each have four pins or teeth, an,arranged in pairs at or near each end of the block, the opposite pins onof each pair inclining outward toward their lower ends, so that eachcomplete rubber or agitator j on has the general form of a smallfour-legged bench or stool. It will be noted that blocks j have oppositevertical or nearly vertical faces or sides a, and that their lowercorners are cut away to leave beveled faces 0 below the vertical facesa, the angle or corner between faces a 0 being quite clearly defined,for purposes to be described hereinafter.

To secure the rubbing-blocks j 'm to the shaft Z, I slip the blocks onthe bars 76 and drive a staple, 12, into the back or top of each block,said staples p inclosing in their eyes or loops the ring 1*, which ringthus serves to hold the blocks j m on the bars 70, while permitting afree oscillation of the blocks on the bars to either side, saidoscillation being limited by contact of the side edges or corners of thetops of the blocks j with the ring 7', as will readily be understood.The staples 1) may be driven directly into the backs of the wood blocksj,- but I prefer to form the stapleswith or fix them to metal plates q,which may be fastened to blocks j by screws for a more substantialconnection, and these plates q also receive the wear by the striking ofthe backs of the blocks Z soacol against the ring 1' in limiting theaxial swing of the blocks, as above described.

For operating the rubbers j m, I fit the shaft Z in a journal-bearing,s, fixed suitably to the cover d, and to the top of the shaft,and,preferably on a squared portion thereof, IfiX above the cover (1 thebevel-pinion t, which meshes with a segmental gear-wheel, u, pivotedhorizontally at '0 in an arched yoke or bar, w, firmly screwed or boltedto the cover. The operating-handle a is fixed rigidly to the segmentalgear a, and so as to project at about a right angle from a line drawnthrough the ends of the gear of the segment a, which latter is gearedwith the pinion t in the normal position shown in Fig. 1, so that byrocking the handle atoward and from the operator, which is an easymovement'causing little fatigue, the rubbing-blocksj m will all bebodily rotated in reverse directions alternately and in horizontalplane. All the operating parts are thus secured to the cover (Z, to befolded back with the cover and out of the way when placing clothes in orremoving them from the tub a.

In operation, the clothes are placed, with suitable quantities of waterand soap, in the tub a, the cover (I is closed and fastened, andthehandle a worked to and fro. As the blocks j are swung bodily in onedirection, they will also swing or turn on the bars 70 in the oppositedirection, by contact with the clothes in the tub, the pins on of theblocks taking hold of the clothes or acting as heaters, each of therubbers j at having also a tendency to bunch or heap up the clothesbefore it, and when the motion of the heaters is reversed the pins onwill act to bunch or heap up the lowered parts or portions of theclothes in the tub, and lower the previously-bunched sections of theclothes, thus practically imparting a wave-like movement to the clothesin all portions of the tub, which will quickly cleanse them.

The advantages of the squared sides at and angular faces 0 of the blocksare that the sides a much more thoroughly agitate the wa ter than wouldrounded or sloping side faces of the blocks, while the ilat faces 0 havea like good effect on the water,and also serve better in direct rubbingaction on the clothes than would a rounded lower edge or side to theblocks.

The tub a may have a circular or oval gcneral form atthe sides, ifdesired.

Any suitable opening, I), is provided for drawing off the water from thetub, which opening is to be closed by a plug or cock of any approvedkind, and a knob, (7/, may be fixed to the cover (I, for convenicnceinraising and lowering the cover.

Having thus described my invention, what I. claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is 7 The combination, with a washing-machineease or tub, of a vertical shaft having radial arms at its lower end, abearing for support ing said shaft, the longitudinally-perforated rubberblock j, with legs m, the ring a, and the staples connecting said ringto the blocks, to prevent them from coming off the arms, but stillpermitting a loose connection, substantially as set forth.

7 ADM. 1t. HERBE'IN.

\Vitnesses:

\VM. BERNIIART, JAMES Barnes.

